Mumbai, February 13 An employee of the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 35,000 at the state secretariat, Mantralaya, an official said.
The Congress alleged that the accused, Rajendra Dherange, was arrested in the office of a cabinet minister, and the incident highlighted what they called "rampant corruption" under the BJP-led government.
However, an ACB official said that he was caught while taking a bribe at the FDA office on the second floor of Mantralaya.
The clerk had allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 from a complainant who wanted his medical license to be restored, the official said.
After the complainant approached the ACB, a trap was laid, and Dherange was apprehended while accepting Rs 35,000 as part payment inside his office on Thursday evening, he said.
A case was registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and an investigation is underway, the official said.
Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal termed the incident "shocking".
"The ACB laid a trap in the office of a cabinet minister at Mantralaya and took into custody an officer accused of bribery. This once again makes it clear that bribery and commission-taking are happening openly in Mantralaya under the Mahayuti government," he said in a post on X.
Sapkal said that no work is carried out without paying bribes, demanding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis disclose the details of the case and remove the concerned minister.
